Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

Coventry's story, from Lady Godiva to the Blitz and the city's rebuilding, is told at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, which stands beside the ruins of the bombed medieval cathedral. It takes its name from the machine-tool industrialist Sir Alfred Herbert, whose gift funded the building. Work began just before the Second World War, was halted by the conflict, and the museum finally opened in 1960. A major redevelopment was completed in 2008.

The collections combine fine art with local and social history, archaeology and natural history. Among the best-known paintings is John Collier's Lady Godiva, and the gallery holds studies by Graham Sutherland for the great tapestry in the new cathedral next door. Coventry's wartime destruction and its later role as a city of peace and reconciliation run through the displays. The city archives are also housed here.

The museum suits anyone wanting to understand Coventry itself, and it pairs naturally with a visit to the two cathedrals. It draws around 300,000 visitors a year.